This morning I learned that Brian (one of my guests) passed away. I do not think that the obituary in the paper gave his life justice. The picture provided is handsome and he was a proud alumni of Jesuit High so he would have liked that is high school picture was shown but it was unfortunately unrecognizable for those who knew him more recently. This by no means is an obituary but I do have some nice memories to share about him because he was apart of our life here at the Center and will always be remembered.
Brian was a character to say the least and full of facts about New Orleans, Jesuit High, people in the city, the gossip of the city, the weather, vacations to take, or really just anything and everything. He could talk for hours if you let him which was normally ill timed (beginning in the early morning when the most people wanted to talk) but when he caught you at a good time to chat he was a wonderful conversationalist and always had a compliment in his back pocket. He kept me up to date on the happenings of the city, the concerts to go to, the free food events, the best restaurants and who to talk to. He especially liked to talk about California and how much he liked it, but the conversation always ended with how much better New Orleans is. Brian was also very proud of his background. He enjoyed telling me all about his time at Jesuit High and what the alumni from him class were up to. One of his peers is now a judge in New Orleans and got Brian out of a few sticky situations. His friendly personality was wonderful and he was very generous with anything he had. He asked me to be his date to the Jesuit High reunion a few months ago, insisting that if I say yes then he would buy me a dress and be a wonderful date. I politely said no thank you but that I appreciated the offer; although this did not deter him so I told him that he had to ask Don's permission to take me. Don explained to him that that was not going to happen and he needed to stop asking me. Brian was not insulted and we still had lots of talks about California which I appreciated. It makes me sad to think that Brian is gone but I am happy to say that I knew him and that he made an impact on my life.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Lots of Love
It has been a while since I have sat down to write anything. I apologize! Its been a little busy, really hot, and I have found a nice routine here. But these past few weeks have been great!
On Friday at work I was asked to head down to the church to receive a large package that was to heavy for Sister Vera to carry. I was a little nervous but luckily I had a dashing young man, who is strong and very helpful, with me to carry the very heavy box. Michael came to New Orleans along with Aunt Susie for an absolutely wonderful visit! They came to work with me on Friday and were big helps at the showers then came to clean up in the afternoon. Michael carried the box for me back to the center and we opened it to see what was weighing it down. It was a box FULL of personal toothpastes! And when I say FULL I mean it. Dr. Rick sent yet another awesome package full of toothpaste. It also looked like some of his other Dentist friends had pitched in to send more. We were able to put personal toothpastes in every hygiene kit this week, and then some! We have some happy smiles this week :)
Aunt Susie and Michael kept me on my toes last weekend. I had a blast taking them around the city! They were great at being flexible when we got caught in a rain storm on a daquari/walking adventure, on Aunt Susie's birthday. We ate more delicious food than I thought possible and some fancy food too! The bananas foster at Brennans melted in my mouth and made me a very happy camper. Drank Mimosas at Aunt Susie's BDay breakfast. They stayed in a beautiful little hotel close enough to the French Quarter that they were able to walk all over the place but far enough that they did not hear too much of the downtown noise. We walked a few blocks of Bourbon St., during the day (still lots of light out!), caught some beads, saw some bars (from the outside), just to say they did it. They went on a haunted tour of the French Quarter. We explored the 9th ward and saw Lake Ponchartrain. They were put to work at the Center and met so many of the wonderful people I work with. And I had a great time with them! I am so glad they spent their vacation time with me!
This past weekend the JV's went on a retreat in Texas: a retreat site right in between Dallas and Houston. We left Wednesday after work, stayed with the Houston JV's that night, then went to the retreat on Thursday. It was a beautiful site and brand new! The land was very flat and open which made for wonderful sun sets, lots of sun during the day, way less humidity than New Orleans, and you could see storms literally rolling in. We had delicious food and a lot of reflection time which we all needed. It has been a wonderful year but a lot to think about and process. The speaker created a space to share our thoughts and feelings with the group and then we were given time by ourselves to internally think about what we had gone through. About a month ago Stephanie and Anne decided it would be a brilliant idea to have Prom at our last retreat all together. There are about 60 JV's in the southern region of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. We have a lot of fun as a big group together. The talent show was Saturday night and was great. For those of you who know what this is: I did the broom trick and it was a big hit! Then after the talent show we had Prom! There was a big open room that we decorated and a speaker system to blast music. It was raining like crazy outside with huge lighting and thunder. It was a little scary but we were all inside having a great time. In the middle of the Cupid Shuffle everyone was on the dance floor when all of a sudden there was a deafening SNAP, 100 times louder than the snap you hear with a whip. We all hit the floor, the music went out, the lights flashed, and bits of plaster fell from the ceiling. The building we were in had been hit by lightning. No one was hurt, nothing caught on fire, the building had been built to withstand this type of weather, the only damage done was a crack in the plaster on the ceiling where the roof had pushed down because of the lightnings impact. It was a bit shocking, to say the least. The fire department came to check the building and make sure it was safe to be in, which it is but the internet cords were hit pretty hard. Now we all have a pretty cool JV Prom story, haha. And I can say that I have been hit by lightning!
Today's quote is, "Julie, if you could bottle your beauty up it would put coke-a-cola out of business." -Benjamin 8:15am
Lots of Love!
On Friday at work I was asked to head down to the church to receive a large package that was to heavy for Sister Vera to carry. I was a little nervous but luckily I had a dashing young man, who is strong and very helpful, with me to carry the very heavy box. Michael came to New Orleans along with Aunt Susie for an absolutely wonderful visit! They came to work with me on Friday and were big helps at the showers then came to clean up in the afternoon. Michael carried the box for me back to the center and we opened it to see what was weighing it down. It was a box FULL of personal toothpastes! And when I say FULL I mean it. Dr. Rick sent yet another awesome package full of toothpaste. It also looked like some of his other Dentist friends had pitched in to send more. We were able to put personal toothpastes in every hygiene kit this week, and then some! We have some happy smiles this week :)
Aunt Susie and Michael kept me on my toes last weekend. I had a blast taking them around the city! They were great at being flexible when we got caught in a rain storm on a daquari/walking adventure, on Aunt Susie's birthday. We ate more delicious food than I thought possible and some fancy food too! The bananas foster at Brennans melted in my mouth and made me a very happy camper. Drank Mimosas at Aunt Susie's BDay breakfast. They stayed in a beautiful little hotel close enough to the French Quarter that they were able to walk all over the place but far enough that they did not hear too much of the downtown noise. We walked a few blocks of Bourbon St., during the day (still lots of light out!), caught some beads, saw some bars (from the outside), just to say they did it. They went on a haunted tour of the French Quarter. We explored the 9th ward and saw Lake Ponchartrain. They were put to work at the Center and met so many of the wonderful people I work with. And I had a great time with them! I am so glad they spent their vacation time with me!
This past weekend the JV's went on a retreat in Texas: a retreat site right in between Dallas and Houston. We left Wednesday after work, stayed with the Houston JV's that night, then went to the retreat on Thursday. It was a beautiful site and brand new! The land was very flat and open which made for wonderful sun sets, lots of sun during the day, way less humidity than New Orleans, and you could see storms literally rolling in. We had delicious food and a lot of reflection time which we all needed. It has been a wonderful year but a lot to think about and process. The speaker created a space to share our thoughts and feelings with the group and then we were given time by ourselves to internally think about what we had gone through. About a month ago Stephanie and Anne decided it would be a brilliant idea to have Prom at our last retreat all together. There are about 60 JV's in the southern region of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. We have a lot of fun as a big group together. The talent show was Saturday night and was great. For those of you who know what this is: I did the broom trick and it was a big hit! Then after the talent show we had Prom! There was a big open room that we decorated and a speaker system to blast music. It was raining like crazy outside with huge lighting and thunder. It was a little scary but we were all inside having a great time. In the middle of the Cupid Shuffle everyone was on the dance floor when all of a sudden there was a deafening SNAP, 100 times louder than the snap you hear with a whip. We all hit the floor, the music went out, the lights flashed, and bits of plaster fell from the ceiling. The building we were in had been hit by lightning. No one was hurt, nothing caught on fire, the building had been built to withstand this type of weather, the only damage done was a crack in the plaster on the ceiling where the roof had pushed down because of the lightnings impact. It was a bit shocking, to say the least. The fire department came to check the building and make sure it was safe to be in, which it is but the internet cords were hit pretty hard. Now we all have a pretty cool JV Prom story, haha. And I can say that I have been hit by lightning!
Today's quote is, "Julie, if you could bottle your beauty up it would put coke-a-cola out of business." -Benjamin 8:15am
Lots of Love!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Appreciate
The word appreciate has taken on a different meaning for me this year. Well, actually, it has taken on more meaning. I used to use the word 'appreciate' to describe a past event or act of kindness someone had showed me. "I appreciated the help with dinner last night." Now I see it used in New Orleans as a word to replace 'Thank You.' One of my favorite New Orleans phrases is, " A'hh appreciate ya!" At first I did not really understand what that meant or why people didn't just say 'Thank you.' "I appreciate you," sounded odd and almost overly grateful. But after hearing it enough, and in context, I realized how significant it is. I appreciate you. I appreciate what you have done for me. I appreciate your generosity. It is more than just a 'thank you for what you have given me,' but rather it is an appreciation for your help, your life, you. I think it sounds a bit too New Orleanian for me to go around saying, " A'hh appreciate yahh," (I can imitate the accent but I cannot pull off the true New Orleans drawl) so I have found myself saying, "I appreciate it," after someone helps me. An offer to do the dishes: "I appreciate it." Helpful advice: "I appreciate it." A generous gift: "I really appreciate it." I feel as though it holds more meaning. Pleases and thank yous are important and imperative to a polite interaction (thanks Nana and Baba for helping me to see their value) but an appreciation for someone is invaluable.
A'hh appreciate Ya'll!
A'hh appreciate Ya'll!
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